Barbie Inspires an Unusual Cosmetic Procedure

Photo: Jutta Klee/Getty Images

When you think about your lower back, do you ever wish it looked more like Barbie’s? As The Telegraph reports, one London-based plastic surgeon is betting that women do. Dr. Mike Comins has unveiled a treatment called Dimples En V, a liposuction procedure meant to leave two dimples in the small of the back—just like Barbie’s, he says.

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“The lower back has always been a beautiful region of the female body, and I think it’s great that women are realizing its importance,” Comins told The Telegraph. The so-called “dimples of Venus” naturally occur among some women, but Comins uses Vaser liposuction technology to create them.

The Barbie buzzword, says Dr. David Alessi, a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, is a good way to get press—but the procedure is nothing new. “It’s just a type of liposuction that everybody does, but the ‘Barbie back’ procedure is basically extending the fact that you have two little dimples,” he explains. “[The name] is more of a trademark thing.” He adds that such a procedure would run between $3,000 and $4,000, but patients “rarely” come in asking for a dimpled back alone.

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Furthermore, he emphasizes that looking like Barbie is physically impossible. “It’s unfortunate that recently, because of shows like Extreme Makeover, some people have unrealistic expectations of what beauty is,” he says. “People can get caught up with looking like a Barbie doll, and it’s just silly.” When a Beverly Hills surgeon says it’s impossible to look like Barbie’s living twin, it might be time to listen.